The Witch of the Wood
by ADHartmann
Summary: When she was a little girl, Scout forsaw a takeover and battle for the crown of Sanup. She has been preparing for this event ever sense. Now the time has finally come, but is she as prepared for it as she thinks?


_**The Witch of the Wood**_

_**Chapter 1**_

"**G**ot to make it," a stable hand muttered, seeing the Retch-Sanup Border just a few feet away. "Can't let the Retch soldiers get me. Not my fault. Not my fault."

It was true; he couldn't let the soldiers get him. He did steal the horse he was riding, though. That was why they were pursuing him. It wasn't just any brown mare he stole, neither. No, it was _the __**Famous Non-Talking Horse from the East**_. The poor boy didn't know that. He was just a poor stable hand. To him, the horse seemed to talk. To him, the horse is the one who should receive the fault if the persistent soldiers, not him, caught them.

The horse, though, had no intention of being caught. He wanted freedom and he planned on achieving it, no matter the consequences. Why else would he have chosen a small stable boy, instead of the Head Stable Master? The horse may have lost the power of speech when he came to this land, but he would not lose its freedom. Not even to save the boy on his back.

"Fifteen feet," the stable boy said, gripping the horse's mane tightly. "Twelve feet. Six feet. Three feet. Safe! What? _They're still following!!_ They can't follow us anymore. We're no longer in their country. Oh, Adlar, what are we going to do?"

High up on a cliff, a lone figure dressed in forest green, stood watching down on the scene in silence. 'They're not supposed to be in this country,' the figure thought, angrily. 'They're entering my woods. _**No one**__ enters my_ _woods_. I'm going to have to take care of these Retch trespassers.' Swirling the cape around itself, the figure disappeared on the next gust of wind.

"Woods ahead," the boy said, looking relieved. "They'll shield us and give us cover. We can make it, Adlar."

Adlar snorted, upset at the fate that had so far been presented to him. First, the lost of speech; second, enslavement; and third, this _good-for-just-escaping_ _**coward**_ on his back. The moment the boy's use was completed, he would throw the lad and run back to his native country. Then he would get his revenge on the man who captured him.

They entered the woods and kept up the pace. The soldiers only hesitated for a second (their horses rearing in fright) before entering the woods after them.

"We're doomed," the boy said, sadly. "Sorry I couldn't be a better help to you, Adlar. What is that up ahead?"

A figure with the green cloak stood in the middle of the path. Not wishing to encounter the menacing creature, Adlar ran into the brush and lay down. The boy got off his back and sneaked a little closer to look at the green creature. He couldn't tell the thing's gender or age, but he could tell that the being was in great shape, medium height, and didn't have any intentions of moving from its current position; even as the Retch soldiers came charging directly at it.

Suddenly, the Retch soldiers' horses stopped and reared on their back legs, frightened. Unable to stay in the saddle, the soldiers fell and landed on their backs. With no masters to command them, the horses ran off into the woods with the intention of never stopping.

"How dare you interfere in Retch business!" the commander shouted at the figure.

"_And how dare you enter my wood without an invitation_?" The being hadn't spoken a word, yet the wind carried the message around the area. "_You do not belong here; you don't belong in this country. I suggest you get out while you have two working legs._"

"You don't scare us, _witch_," the commander said, drawing his sword. The rest of his men followed his example, not looking as confident as their leader. "Your cheap parlor trick with the wind isn't scary enough to run us off! Even your hooded face does not make our imaginations fly out of control. Show your face, if you want us to take you seriously!"

Calmly, like it had all the time in the world, the being lifted its hands and lowered its hood. Underneath was a decaying head with little strands of white hair protruding from its head, no eyeballs, or teeth for that matter, present, and maggots and worms gushing through all the empty holes they could find, even through the non-existent ears.

The commander's men bent their heads and showed what they had for lunch. Even the little stable boy, who was still watching from the brush, felt sick and even more frightened from the living cadaver. Adlar turned his head, trying to control his shaking body and the urge to run away.

"_Get out of this wood before I give you a deadly kiss and take you back to __**HELL WITH ME**_," the repulsive half living thing threatened, still using the wind as its voice. Its mouth turned a bloody red with what looked like actual blood running from its cracked lips.

Scared and unable to look at the revolting, decomposing carcass, the men ran back the way they came, the commander in the front, always leading his men.

_**Chapter 2**_

**W**hen the soldiers (who appeared to run faster than their mounts) were out of sight, the being lifted its hood back up, covering its nauseating face. A shrill whistle sounded from it, making the boy cover his ears in pain. Aggravated at the sound, Adlar stood up and ran toward the figure, along with the soldiers' runaway horses.

Lifting a consoling hand, the figure stroked the horses, calming the jittery animals.

"_Don't just sit there like an idiot_," the wind commanded. "_Come over here, Retch boy_!"

Scared after what he just seen, yet frightened of what would happen if he didn't obey, the stable lad stood up and walked toward the hooded figure.

"_Well, don't just stand there_," the figure continued, angrily. "_You're a stable hand. Get these saddles off these poor beasts_!"

Nodding his head, the boy took off the saddles and saddle blankets of every horse, including his own. It took all his willpower not the look inside the hood of witch. Meanwhile, she gathered up all the reins and put them in a bag that she pulled from somewhere under her cloak.

When they finished, the figure in green jumped on top of one of the horses and stared down at the boy. He just stood there, waiting to see what fate the witch had marked on him.

"_Follow the path, taking the horse you stole with you_," it said after some time. "_You will reach the village by sunset, maybe earlier depending on your speed. Do not set up camp in my woods or you will be punished. Do not stray from the path or you and your horse will be wolf food. Do not follow me or you _will_ die. Do you understand the_ _warnings I've established_?"

The boy nodded his head, vigorously. "I understand," he said.

The figure nodded its head, and started off into the woods, the soldiers' horses following. Suddenly, they disappeared from view behind the trees, disappearing on the other side.

Adlar watched as the figure vanished, chills running up his spine. A thought popped up in his head, but he pushed it to the back of his mind, not taking time to consider it. Instead, he kneeled down and allowed the boy to climb onto his back, no questions asked, or really even needed.

Meanwhile, the figure stood on the sturdiest branch of the tree it supposedly disappeared behind (the horses grazing on the other side), watching the two strangers quickly canter down the path. Positive that they wouldn't change their course, it took off through the woods, branch to branch, on its way home; the horses following after it.

The horse and its helper entered the town an hour before sunset. Entering the town, uncertain, they walked down the street, trying to stay out of everyone's path.

"_Do you have anything to barter with_?" Adlar thought to the hand.

"No," the boy replied, unsure about the people walking by him. The figure in the woods still had him a little shaken up, feeling as if those invisible eyes were watching his every move. Could any of these people be the being in disguise? Watching to make sure he didn't change his mind and go back into the woods? Involuntarily, a shiver ran down his back.

"_Easy up there_," Adlar thought, angrily. "_Let me do the worrying. You just sit up there and act like you know where you're going. And don't grasp my mane so tight. You're pulling my skin, making me loose my focus. I'd like to see you walk with four legs, two you can't even see._"

"Sorry," he whispered, loosening his hold and sitting up straight.

"Where you're going, _Retch_?" a long bearded man asked, unsheathing his knife from his side.

"In this general direction, sir," the boy said, unsure what was wrong.

"Are you trying to be smart with me, lad?" the man asked, face scrunching in anger.

"I'm not trying, sir," he said, trying to control his shaking.

"Oh, you're saying it comes easy to you then?" the man asked, pulling the stable boy off Adlar and holding the knife against his throat.

"Usually not, sir," the boy said, not moving an inch.

"So it just comes easy around me then?" the man asked, gritting his teeth.

"Unhand that boy, Owen," a knight said, coming up to them on a bay horse.

"This is no concern of yours, Roberto," Owen said, not turning his gaze from the lad.

"Then I'll make it mine," said another knight, riding up to them.

"Butt out, Alfrado ," Owen said, finally turning his eyes from the lad to look at the two knights. "I need blood, and I'm going to get it from this lad."

"The war has been over for eleven years," said one more knight, also riding up. "This lad probably wasn't born until two years afterward. His blood won't give you any justice for your fallen father and brother, Owen."

"Maybe not, Jizues," Owen said, turning back to the boy. "But it will sure feel good to slay the blood of one of theirs just as they once did to our people."

At that moment, Adlar decided that he would try to help the lad. It had been pondering whether or not he should when the boy was pulled from his back. Turning so his butt faced the man, Adlar gave him a powerful kick, knocking the guy away from his boy with little damage.

"Hey!" the man yelled, rubbing his bottom. Adlar snickered in response and pranced away, tail swooshing.

Several larger men suddenly appeared on the scene, surrounding the knights and the lad. The villagers, knowing that a fight was about to happen, quickly got off the streets and hid in any open building that was near.

"So much for their help," Jizues said, looking after the frighten people.

"We didn't need their help anyway," Alfrado said, joyously, hoping off his horse, and drawing his sword and crossbow. "Here, lad, hold on to our horses for a moment."

Nodding his head, the boy gathered up the reins and stood close to Adlar, intrusting his life to the creature. He was still a little surprised that Adlar came to his rescue.

"You picked the wrong day to butt into people's business, knights," Owen said, smiling wide. "Get them!"

_**Chapter 3**_

"**R**_etreat_!" Owen said, holding a hand over his swollen eye. Those that could run, did, and those that couldn't, tried.

"That was fun," Alfrado said, sheathing his sword and placing his crossbow back on his horse. "Maybe we should stick around and fight them again when they come back?"

"That wouldn't be logical, Al," Jizues said, sheathing his own sword and snatching the reins of his horse from the lad. "The pusses we just fought were probably their scare boys. The real fighters are the ones they're bringing back with them. If we were going to fight them, we would need Scout as back up."

"I could take them," Alfrado said, snatching his own reins.

"You better get out of this place before they get back," Roberto said to the young boy as he took the reins of his horse and tipping the lad a silver piece.

The stable boy nodded his head and looked at the silver piece, unsure what to do with it.

"_It's obviously some sort of bargaining chip_," Adlar thought to the child, taking a look at the coin. "_It could hopefully find us a stable to sleep in for the night._"

Gazing at the beast, the boy nodded his head and started walking after the horse.

"The boy has no clue where he's going," Alfrado said, watching the youngster. "That silver coin you gave him, Rob, is going to be cheated or taken from him in a short amount of time."

"Maybe we should help the fellow out," Jizues said, looking at his friends.

"We'll do no such thing," Rob said, turning his horse in the direction of home. "We helped with Owen. He held our horses for us. We're even. Besides, we need to get home and work out our conspiracy theory with Scout."

"We can at least ask if he knows where he's going," Jizues said. "He looks lost, for heaven's sake. Look how he follows his horse as if it had an intelligent mind. It's sort of pathetic, if you ask me."

"Fine," Robert said. "Just don't blame me if Scout gets angry at us. Say, Lad!"

The horse and his boy stopped and looked at the approaching soldier. "Yes, sir?"

"Do you have a place to stay, Retch?" Roberto asked, stopping his horse beside the boy.

"No, sir," the boy said, shaking his head. "The name's Ian. _Ian Corpus_. This mare is Adlar."

"Why would you name your horse after a snake?" Alfrado asked, riding up on the other side of Ian.

"He's not mine. I'm _his_," explained Ian as if that made complete sense.

The three knights exchanged a glance before turning back to the lad.

"Either way," Roberto said, clearing his throat. "Would you like to stay with us for the night?"

Ian quickly looked at Adlar, who bowed his head to the ground. Taking this as a sign, he quickly climbed onto its back and nodded his head.

"Then let's go before they're regrouped," Roberto said, starting his horse into a gallop. The rest followed after him.

"Hi," Alfrado said, coming up beside Ian. "I'm Alfrado. The funny, take life as it comes, best fighter of the group. That's Jizues on your other side."

Ian rotated his head to the other side of him. Jizues waved and gave him a smile.

"Jizues is the smart, logical one," Alberto continued. "You get him out of thinking mode; he can be a pretty fun guy. And the loser in front of us is Roberto. He's supposedly our fearless leader. He's a bit too serious for me, but I've learned to deal with it."

"_I've_ learned to deal with _you_, actually," Roberto called back to them. "You two just cling to me, and you're not the best fighter of the group. Scout is."

"That's only because she learned from the best," Alfrado said, smugly.

"_Me_," all three of the men said at the same time.

"As you can see, we all pride ourselves on our skills," Jizues said. "Alfrado is mostly good with every weapon ever created, though his favorites include the crossbow, spear and mace. Roberto is best with a sword, and I'm good with a bow and arrows. Hey! Al, what do you think Scout will have cooking for us when we reach home?"

"Deer?" Alfrado guessed, smiling at their favorite game.

"Rabbit?" Jizues said.

"Hawk?"

"Some type of lizard?"

"Frog stew?"

"Probably cat and puppy chow," Roberto said, deciding after all that the game wasn't completely below him.

"Too easy to catch," Alfrado said, waving the idea away.

"Pardon me," Ian asked, butting into the conversation. "If you don't mind me asking, who's _Scout_?"

"I'm sorry," Jizues said, smacking his palm against his forehead. "We forgot to tell you. She's our daughter."

"All of yours?"

"We all raised her," Alfrado said. "Her mother died giving life to her. We felt obligated to take care of her."

Ian nodded his head, understanding what that felt like. He was raised by the stable master back in **Retch**.

"_Place the thought in the back of your head, young foul_," Adlar thought to the boy, sensing his sad thoughts. "_You can do nothing in the past. Only in the present do your actions count toward the future._"

Ian did as he was told and thought no more about it, though he did not forget it.

_**Chapter 4**_

**A**fter several minutes, Ian made Adlar stop against his wishes. Infuriated, Adlar whinnied and rose up on his hindquarters, making Ian fall off and land on his back.

"Easy boy," Roberto said jumping off his own horse and grabbing a hold of Adlar's reins.

"You alright?" Alfrado asked, helping Ian onto his feet.

"Yes, fine," mumbled Ian, embarrassed and mad at himself. "I forgot for a second that Adlar doesn't like to be controlled."

"A horse is meant to be controlled by the hand of man," Roberto said, lashing Adlar's reins to his own saddle.

Angry, Adlar nipped Roberto's hand.

"Hey," he said, pulling his hand away and shaking the pain out of it.

"Interesting," Jizues said, studying the horse from a safe distance. "For a horse that isn't trained, it acts as if it can understand human speech."

Ian looked at the ground, unsure what to say to that.

"Save the examinations for when we get home, Jizues," Alfrado said, placing Ian on his own horse.

"I can ride Adlar," Ian protested.

"You're not riding an uncontrollable horse through these woods at night," Alfrado said climbing on behind him.

"May I ask why you tried to halt the animal in the first place?" Jizues asked as he and Roberto saddled their horses.

"I'm not allowed to enter these woods," Ian answered, the fear of the witch still with him. "The witch said that if I ever did, she would kill me."

"She's upgraded her threats some," Alfrado said, starting his horse moving. "She used to say she would torture the person if they came back, then dump there injured carcass back outside the woods."

"Don't your kind live in palaces?" Ian asked, too frightened to hear what was said.

"Our daughter was banished from the castle when she was little," Jizues said, riding beside them. "I don't think we ever found out the true reason, and Scout certainly doesn't remember what she did."

"More likely she doesn't want to tell. She could go back, though," Roberto added from the front. "All she has to do is provide some great service for the king and/or kingdom."

"You'd think she be allowed in for what she's been doing for the past ten years," Jizues said, thinking. "She's probably stopped many more wars from happening by her little pranks."

"Yes," Roberto said. "She could probably get in, if only she treated the king with a little more respect."

"Why doesn't she like the king?" Ian asked, not fully paying attention but looking to the left and right of him, watching out for the hooded figure.

"She doesn't like any type of male gender," Alfrado said, shaking his head, sadly. "In particular those who think they have power. It's a habit she acquired on her own, I'm afraid to say. Oh, look. We're home. I'll bet you five to one that we're eating horse."

Ian found that they had arrived in front of a small log cabin. It had a front porch with four rocking chairs squeezed into one corner of it and hanging from the railing were animal skins of varying species. Smoke was rising from a grey stone chimney and the smell of cooking stew drifted up from it. But what really caught Ian's attention was the corral attached to the side of the cabin where the currently residing residents were the Retch soldiers' horses. Ian suddenly had a funny feeling that he and the knight's daughter had already met earlier that day.

_**Chapter 5**_

" '**B**out time you got home," a tanned, seventeen-year-old girl said, coming out of the shack and onto the porch, her waist length brown hair flapping against the wind. She was washing a dish and not really paying attention to them. "I was about to send out a Scout to search for you."

"Very funny," Alfrado said, hopping off his horse and taking Ian off as well. "I think that joke's beginning to wear itself out."

"Where did you get the horses, Scout?" Roberto asked, unsaddling, and tying up their horses.

"Found them wandering around in the woods," she said smiling, still not looking up at them. She hopped down the steps and leaped up onto one of the stolen horses, as if the animal wasn't ten-hands high. "They just followed me home. Strange, huh?"

"These are Retch horses," Jizues said, examining them. "Reserved for the royal guard of their king."

"You think they would have better control over them," she said, hopping down and looking at them all. She suddenly noticed Ian who was staring at her, shaking. "Who's the _Retch_?" she asked, trying not to show her anger as she dropped the plate she had been washing. Amazingly, it didn't break.

"Don't be rude, Scout," Roberto said, glaring at her. "This is Ian and his horse Adlar. I'm surprised you didn't run into them on your hunting campaign."

"Who says I didn't?" she hissed, the wind suddenly picking up.

Frightened, Ian hid behind Adlar, who was also shaking along with every other horse near him.

Knowing what was happening, the three knights looked at one another, nodded and started toward Scout, coming from behind.

"_What are you doing back in my wood?_" she said, voice sounding like a flock of angry screech owls. The wind was blowing her hair every which way, making her look enormous and extremely powerful. "_Did you not hear what the consequences would be if you returned? Did you suddenly have a loss of intelligent thought? Did you think those warnings I gave you were empty threats? Well, you were wrong. Prepare for_–"

She never finished her ranting, because, just then, Roberto gave the signal and Jizues threw a gag over her mouth while Alberto began to tickle her. Unable to concentrate on either her anger or the wind, they both died down. Instead, she focused on trying to get the gag off her mouth, getting out of the reach of Alberto's fingers, and Roberto's hold on her.

Ian came out from behind Adlar and watched the scene, eyes slanted. "I've think they've all gone barmy," he told the horse, confused by the actions of the knights.

"_Not necessarily_," thought the horse watching the ritual carefully. "_By tickling this young, yet extremely wise, wood enchantress, they made her loose her focus on the wind and instead set her up with another problem. This proves that, indeed, these knights raised her. What I'm most interested in is why they raised her, instead of throwing her out of the country, or even worse, putting her to the burning stake, and how she became so sufficient in magic? You'll have to ask those question when you break bread with them._"

"I'm not going anywhere near her," Ian said, backing up.

Snorting, Adlar flicked his tail, hitting Ian in the back of the head. "_These knights will protect you from her magic_. _What did I say about worrying?_"

"That it's your job," Ian said, rubbing the back of his head.

_**Chapter 6**_

**M**anaging to pull out of her fathers' grip, Scout made a leap and landed on a tree branch above their heads. Pulling off the gag, she yelled down to them. "So unfair! You know how much I like to show off to newcomers! And I thought Knights of the Honor didn't sneak up on unarmed men?"

"Two things, Scout," Alberto called up to her, laughing. "You're not a man and you're always armed, even without a sword, spear, or quiver! Now come on down and meet Ian properly."

"How can I trust that I won't get tickled by you men again if I do jump down?" she asked slyly.

"Because I say so," Roberto said, sounding serious.

Scout couldn't help but notice one of his hands was behind his back. Thinking fast, she mumbled a few choice words and pointed three fingers at her fathers. At first, it appeared nothing happened. All three fathers continued to look up at her. Then a smile crept onto their faces, at the same time. Knowing her spell worked, Scout jumped down, and smiling herself, watched as her work gained power.

Soon, her fathers began to chuckle, then laugh and finally, burst into uncontrollable hysterics. Tears began trickling down their faces as they bent over and held their stomachs.

"_The _**Laughing** **Curse**," Adlar said, watching the spell grow. "_She must be a _very_ experienced Spell caster if she can do that hex_."

"Is it bad?" Ian asked, watching them, puzzled.

"_Not unless she lets the spell continue, making them literally laugh themselves to death_," Adlar said. Turning his head from the scene, he went to inspect the grass near the woods. "_I doubt she'll let that happen, though_."

Adlar was right. Within a few minutes, Scout pointed three fingers at her fathers and mumbled the counter curse. Slowly, their laughter began to lighten, then it was back to being a chuckle and finally, they were gasping for breath.

Kissing each of them on the cheek, she said, "Dinner's done when you feel like eating again."

Before she could start toward the house, Alfrado grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder. "Feel this," he said, bouncing her as they headed into the house, once again sounding like his old merry self; Roberto and Jizues followed them into the cottage. Ian followed after them cautiously, Adlar helping him move along the way.

"What are we eating?" Alfrado asked, dropping his daughter into a chair and scurrying over to the stove.

"Don't you shove your nose in my pot," Scout said, hopping up from her seat and shoving him away from the enticing smell. "We're having Snapping Turtle Stew. Now either sit down or set the table. Roberto, do something useful and tie up those horses. I don't want them roaming around at this time of night. You're not going to just sit there either, Jizues. Make up a bed for that Retch boy, given that it appears he'll be staying the night with us."

"Yes, Mother," they chorused, smiling before doing as she asked of them.

_**Chapter 7**_

"**I**'m off," Scout said, placing her bowl in the wash barrel and walking outside, putting on her dark brown cloak as she left.

"Be back before sunup," Roberto said, pouring more soup for Ian, who hadn't had a real good meal in all his life. "We have a theory we want to discuss with you!"

"It's right on target!" she called back before disappearing into the night woods.

"I knew it," Alberto said, banging his hand on the table.

"Yes," said Jizues, beginning to wash the dishes, "but we still have to gain proof that our known fact is true."

"Scout's word is good enough for me," Alberto said, glaring at him.

"As for us all." Roberto said. "But we have to get the known facts straight: Scout will not go to the castle under any kind of pretences, and even if she wanted to, nobody would let her in. And finally, even if they did, I very much doubt that the king would listen to her." He picked up the sleeping form of Ian and placed him in the spare cot.

"Even if he does," added in Jizues, "His advisor has more power at this moment, considering that the king is still young and doesn't know how to properly rule a kingdom at this time."

"Or any time if he continues to let _Lord_ _Malo_ make all the big decisions." Alberto said, standing up quickly. "We have to do something!"

"And we will," Jizues said, finishing the dishes and sitting down at the table. "Just not tonight. If we're going to plan something, I'd rather plan it first with Scout, then speak with knights that we trust, and finally, recruit and prepare willing people from this and the surrounding villages. Sounds good?"

"I thought I was the planner?" Roberto asked as Alberto pulled a bottle of brandy from under the floorboards near his chair. "Who placed you in charge?"

"What makes you think that Scout hasn't found that bottle and hasn't already changed the contents within it?" Jizues asked, smirking at him.

"Because I'm just lucky when it comes to hiding my _High Spirits_." Alberto said, uncapping the bottle. Suddenly, his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he passed out.

"I guess he's not that lucky," Roberto said, looking at his cup suspiciously.

"Yeah," Jizues said, rubbing his tired eyes. "I don't know how Scout can stay up all day and still have some strength left over to go on either a night stroll or a night's hunt. I can barely survive a whole day."

"I know what you mean. Who would have thought uncovering a conspiracy would be this exhausting." Roberto yawned and looked over at the made-up-quick cot. "The Retch boy is asleep. What's his name again?"

"Ian. I wonder why he left home."

"We'll try to coax it out of him in the morning. Should we move Al to his cot?"

"Leave him. It's his fault for not heading our warnings."

Ian looked through the slits of his eyes, watching the knights as they got up from the table. Adder had told him, before he went in the cottage, to pay attention to what was being said and to repeat every word back to him in the morning. As the knights got undressed and pulled the covers over their heads, Ian thought over what he heard.

_**Chapter 8**_

**S**cout traveled through the trees as if she were the gliding wind. Traveling this way had always been easy for her, even as a little girl, and no matter what her uncles claimed, she received more excitement leaping from limb to limb than riding horseback through a cannonball shower.

Even though she hadn't been in the Retch-Sanup War, she witnessed its events at the age of three from the trees and in the wind. She had observed the battle strategies with interest and had even concocted her own. When it was over, she continued to study the history of past wars and even bullied her fathers into teaching her. She now believed herself to be the best warrior in all the land.

There was only a little only sliver of moonlight that night, but that made no difference to her, whose eyesight was keen enough to see through the darkest night or foggiest day. Her hearing was sharper than usual that night, telling her that she needed to get to her destination quickly. Taking an instant left, she followed the whimpering and pleading voice near the edge of her northern wood.

"Please don't hurt me," a young maiden pleaded, struggling against two of her four captors. "I promise that my father will find and kill you if you hurt me in any way."

"Well, first he has to find _you_ in order to find _us_," said one of them, smiling. Ugly, chipped, yellow, and even missing teeth presented themselves in his mouth.

"I'll make sure she gets home then," Scout said, jumping down from the trees, hood landing over her eyes, voice sounding old and cryptic.

"It's the _Bitch of the Wood_," one of the men joked, looking her up and down, a drunken smile plastered on his disgusting features.

Suddenly, a wolf's cry sounded. Eleven more joined into the cry. Twenty-four eyes appeared out of the gloom.

"That's _**WITCH**__ of the Wood_," Scout said, as gray fog began to flow from her cloak. "Now I suggest you release the girl."

"And if we don't," one of the men who was holding the maiden asked, fright showing on his face as he glance swiftly around at all the eyes.

"I need some fresh human parts for my spells," she said, smiling on the inside. "I'm sure my friends here will spare some bits and pieces."

Twelve wolves entered the clearing, growling and snarling, showing off their bloodstained teeth. They circled the clearing, leaving no chance of escape.

"Let the girl go, and I'll spare you," Scout said, her eyes shining in the blackness of her hood.

The men threw the girl at her and started to back away. The wolves tightened the circle around the four men, licking their chops.

"I thought you said you'd spare us?" one of the men asked, angrily looking back at her.

"That's right, _I_ would," Scout said, allowing herself to smile, her teeth reflecting the moon's light. "I never said _they_ would. I control the forest, not the animals dwelling within them. Good luck." And with that, she made herself look as if she and the girl were fading into the wood.

Seeing that they were on their own, the men made a run for it; the wolves ran after them. A scream soon pierced the night.

"Probably just bit the ass of one," Scout said, not dropping her old women accent. "They had obviously just fed before I called them."

"How could you tell?" the maiden asked, fearfully.

"Bloody teeth," she said. "The teeth were still bloody from the deer. Do you really want to ask me how I know that?" Scout asked, before the maiden could.

"I guess not," she said. "What are you going to do to me?"

"Do you really _want_ to know?" Scout asked, mischievously. She stopped and released the girl. "Keep heading straight. You will come to your village. I recommend not going out at night unless you plan on having your suitor or someone you trust escort you home."

"How do you…no, I probably don't want to know. My father will want to pay you for saving my life."

"You mean saving your _flower_. That's all the men really wanted. I do expect payment for my task, though. One day, in the near future, I will require a service. Promise me on your family name and your life that you will do what I ask, no questions asked."

"I swear on my family, my life and everything I own," she said. "I promise."

"That's only one out of three of my payments," Scout informed her, eyes shining. "Another payment you will serve tomorrow. Meet me at the town stables when the sun has fully risen. I will come in one of my many forms with two of my many names."

"How will I recognize you?" the maiden asked, not liking the sound of this.

"You won't," Scout said, serious. "I'll identify you, _Ms. Adelaide Ronieze_."

Adelaide's mouth opened in response to her name. "How do you…"

"I'm told many things, and I see what needs to be seen. Hardly anything is a mystery to me for long. Trees may not move or speak, but they _do_ hear and they _do __**see**_. Will you meet me or will I have to come after you?"

"I will be at the stables," she said. "What will your third payment be?"

"I will tell you after your first payment," Scout said, turning her back on the maiden and walking back into the main wood. "Oh, one more thing," she said, over her shoulder. "Wear your work clothes, old shoes and bring a basket of food with lots of cheese. And I do mean _**LOTS**_."

_**Chapter 9**_

**A**fter making sure that Adelaide made it out of woods safely, Scout headed toward the tree she called _Ancient_ _Beauty_. It is the tallest tree closest to the king's palace and the only tree inside the _Fallen Fortress_.

This fortress use to be the pride of Sanup. It once stood higher than any tree and its cannons could fire farther than from any other place. That all changed, though, when wars became a common event. It couldn't handle all the cannon balls and exploding gunpowder. Eventually, it fell into rubble and hasn't been used ever since. Only one tree was planted inside its grounds, as a remembrance to all the men that died and the country's everlasting existence. It is said that before the last war king died, he planted and blessed the tree, wishing that it would be of some use in the future.

From this same tree, Scout could see the palace when it looked its grandest, no matter the weather or the situation. She could also read the stars easier because the top branches could hold her weight.

Carefully analyzing every section of the sky, she wrote down all the important (and some of the less important) facts and prophesies on her arm. Then she stared at the palace, glowing like it was made from the finest crystal and diamonds from around the world. Without really knowing how she knew, Scout felt that the young king was still awake somewhere in its depths and frustrated about something. She knew that the stars would tell her if she only looked in one of the littler sections of the sky, but at the moment, she didn't really want to strain her mind anymore that night. She didn't want to read that the king was frustrated over a women or something just as dumb.

Each section of the sky, big or small, tells something about what is or what will happen on the earth. The big segments display war and peace and important births or deaths. Middle sections the criminal activity, some people's upcoming actions, the economy, and interesting little pictures; and the tiny segments talk about the local gossip, why certain people are feeling the way they are at a particular moment, the next day's weather, and also some people's actions.

Scout never looked at hers. She didn't want to know why she was felling the burden of the country's doom or why she detested the other sex (except for her fathers) so much. She was afraid to find out the answer. It was the only thing she was afraid of on the planet.

Though most people don't want to believe it, the stars do change their position every night, informing those that remembered how to look at them of the day's present or future events.

Scout hadn't slept in two weeks. She knew she would have to eventually have to let Madam Tyme take her eyes and store them in her mystical pouch, the one that was specially made for Scout, and fill them with clear thought and vision. The madam would keep the eyes until the Playful Oomph lets her know that the liveliness was packed inside the body and can return the eyes to their proper place. It would take at least five days for her to be filled up completely, but Scout couldn't afford to lose that time at the present. She needed to be awake to continue to be of service to her fathers, her forest, and her country.

"Hopefully, Madam Tyme understands my plight." Scout said aloud, resting her head on her arm, watching as the lights in the tiny town went out one by one. "I'll just rest here for a bit until sunrise. Important work still needs to be done and what's-her-name is part of it. What part, we'll find out tomorrow. How I do wish I could rest right now." Without knowing it, Scout did fall asleep, yet her dreams were still focused on the castle in front of her.

Madam Tyme quickly swooped down on Scout's sleeping form in her star bright carriage, took out Scout's eyes and told Playful Oomph (when he had caught up to her) to fill Scout up as much and as quickly as he could that night. She knew and understood Scout as she did all the sleeping forms on the earth and did indeed think that the child had a lot on her plate for one so small and young. She placed a blessing on the eyes as she always did for Scout and added her wish into them. Another human being, preferably a man, would soon equally share the wish that the entire burden the girl possessed.

When Playful Oomph informed her that he had placed as much vigor as he could in one night, she placed the eyes back into their rightful body and continue on to the cottage where, at the moment, all the beings inside were sleeping, including a small stable boy from Retch. Playful Oomph stayed behind for a few minutes, gave his own blessing upon the form of the sleeping girl, and placed a small gift in her possession before slowly, and unenthusiastically, following after the Madam. She may have had a flying carriage, but he only had his feathered arms. Waving your arms up and down for a long time does end up tiring you out and he had to fly all over the world. Plus, he had to give up some of his energy so the mortals could be packed back up. To him, they unstuffed to quickly for his liking.

To the common eye, it looked like he placed nothing upon her brow, but if you looked closely enough, you would see a silver orb, made by the Oomph himself out of stardust. Even though he had filled as much energy as the madam would allow for that one night, he knew that the days would instantly drain it out of her. The orb would continue to fill her up with power even during her waking hours. He just hoped that it would be enough.

_**Chapter 10**_

**S**cout was right about her feeling. The king was indeed still up and was without a doubt, frustrated. Since ascending the throne, he seemed not to have enough time to do any of the pleasures he once had enjoyed when his father was still alive. Plus, he continually had to keep a sharp eye on his chief advisor, Sham (also known as _Lord Malo_ by the good knights, servants, and the common folk), who seemed to be doing his job on the side.

There seemed not to be enough hours in the day to stretch and take a breather. He always had some paper that needed signed, always some part of the kingdom to check out, some lesson to go to. He let Sham sentence the criminals that were caught. He let Sham have them just so he wouldn't have to listen to his input over his shoulder, and it seemed to keep him happy.

Even the night had its problems. He had to be present at every meal and ceremony. His food had to be taste-tested by the Royal Taster, so none of it looked appetizing. He believed he would have starved after his first week as king had it not been for the cook, who truly enjoyed his company (no matter the time) and his appetite. After supper, he was literally pushed to the Great Hall, which wasn't really a hall at all but a room that could hold the entire town inside it and still have enough room for the entire court to gather. Jesters would perform, but he had seen all the acts before. Minstrels would sing and tell stories. He knew the songs and the stories since he was a child. He could have told you the title of the songs or stories by just hearing two sentences. He would sit and bear it because it was his duty without an adviser. The only part of the room he did enjoy was the fireplace. It had extraordinary carvings engraved in the marble. This artwork was the only reminder to the people of the palace of his father who carved all of it with no help, including the magnificent dragons at the top. He had starting carving it one day without warning anybody. It took a year to finish and it was the only memory the king had of his father actually enjoying doing work. The only figure that the people couldn't figure out was one of the beings carved. It was a young girl, hair flying everywhere, wind blowing around it. No one could figure out whom this woman was supposed to represent.

The only peace he would get was when he was allowed to go to his room and be left alone to sleep. Of course, he never fell right into slumber, with the day's decrees and taxes rolling through his head. Or he would think of his father and wondered how he was able to cope with it. 'Maybe he didn't and dying was his only escape,' he would sometimes think.

Mostly, he would silently crawl out of his bed and sit at his window, like he was doing at this moment, and stare out at his kingdom. For a moment, he felt as though someone was looking back at him with his head full of worries and the next day's activities. And for a moment, the king (who I should probably tell you by now that his name is _Leopold_, and that if he had any friends, he'd have been called _Leo_) didn't feel the entire weight of the world on his shoulders. For that brief moment, he felt as if someone was sharing the load with him, and with that thought planted in his head, he would be able to sleep easier.

That was the case tonight, although the thought didn't comfort him this time. If there was such a person, what caused him to look back at him, as if expecting the answer? Why didn't that person just shrug off the load and move on? What was so important about the load _they_ carried? If there was such a person, why didn't they come to him for help?

King Leopold only asked these questions because he was angry. Sham had come up with a proposal for a higher tax raise on the shop owners. His reason: they gained enough profit in one day than what the tax collectors collected in one month. With an eighty percent tax raise on all goods imported, the shop owners wouldn't be able to sell as much and the incoming and outgoing would be equal.

King Leopold thought about it for only a second before deciding against it. He had already figured Sham for an idiot and only kept him around because Sham knew too well the secrets of the kingdom. Leopold said that eighty percent was too high to place on any item in the shop and that the people needed those items to survive. Plus, with the supposed witch in the north, west and east woods, the traders had to take the long route through _Red Spider Cavern_ in the south to get to the village. The items had to be sold at the price they were to make up for the price of the traders.

Sham didn't like that answer and showed it by not giving any advise to the king for the rest of morning, which actually made the decisions fairer to the decisions the king made that day. Sham, not liking being out of the spotlight for a long time, tried other means for his suggestion to get on paper. He had spent lunch and supper arguing with the king and half the ceremony talking about how Leopold's father would had listened and reasoned with him and would finally see it as the best action. Just to shut Sham up, the king had agreed to have a forty-five percent tax rise on imported items, but no more. Now, at the window, he was cursing himself for giving in and not showing who truly was in charge. He knew that the gossip would scatter throughout the kingdom of how he was the first king in twenty kings who had given in to the pleadings of an advisor. He would eventually hear the murmurings of how, at twenty-one, he could still not make up his own mind. He was taking his frustrations out on the being that was supposedly helping him with the burden of the kingdom.

Realizing that the man equal to him would not call back an answer, Leopold rolled his eyes, climbed into bed, and fell into a troubled and sad sleep. The only thing he was looking forward to was the next night's Full Moon Festival, in which, he had the right to not be king for a night and enjoy being a citizen of Sanup.

_**Chapter 11**_

**W**hen Scout woke up, the first rays of the sun were beginning to gleam. Scolding herself for sleeping, she raced back home. Everyone was still asleep when she quietly entered. She made a quick breakfast of porridge for them and prepared herself for the day. She loaded a sack with half of her medical supplies, some food, her old leather boots, and another sack. She braided her long hair and wrapped it around her head, making it look almost as if she were wearing a crown. She took off her brown cloak and wrapped an old gray one around her head and shoulders. She thought long and hard and finally placed leather strapped sandals on her feet. Looking around to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything, she quietly left the one room cottage. She scrubbed a little more dirt on her face than necessary and walked up to Adlar.

"I'm going into town if they wonder," she said to him, looking him in the eyes. "You should be a lot nicer to the lad. He did help you escape, and he is the only one who can hear you, except for me. The stars mentioned that you and the boy have an important role in this conflict, so I suggest you stick around, unless you _really_ want me to summon you back. Also, if they'll listen to your boy, (which I think they will) tell my fathers that I probably won't be back until tomorrow night, and I'm sorry I'll miss the _Full Moon_ _Celebration_ with them. What I'm doing _is_ significant to our cause."

Jumping up into the trees, she vanished into the wind.

Scout found Adelaide gazing nervously about her and wearing cleaner clothes than those she had worn the previous night. Rolling her eyes, she smiled inwardly and walked toward her.

"What's a fair looking thing like you doing around here?" she asked, keeping to her regular voice.

"Go away, _Mudchild_," Adelaide said, spitting on the ground next to Scout's feet. "You don't want to mess with me."

"Because your family would try to kill me if I do," Scout said, rolling her eyes. "I remember that phrase last night."

Adelaide turned and looked at Scout. "Who are you?"

"Today, where we are going, I'm known as _Alexia_ and _Lady Fox_," Scout said, smiling inwardly at how opposite the meanings of those names were.

"Are you…" Adelaide began to ask.

"Going to show you where we will be working today? Yes, I am. Didn't I ask you to wear old clothing?"

"This is my old clothing," she said. "Can't you see that it is several sizes too small for me?"

"You knew I meant for you to wear dirty old rags that your personal servant wears herself," Scout said, angry at the thought of no thought for the poor. "It's too late to change now. Follow me and breathe slowly. Don't want you passing out before your first task is done."

"Why are we headed into the sewer?" Adelaide asked, stopping outside the entrance.

"I'm surprised that you even know the name of this place," Scout said, lighting a lantern while letting out a troubled sigh. That's what Adelaide had her doing since starting the trip.

"I've been warned that _rats_ live in the sewer."

"Who do you think named me _Lady Fox_? Don't worry. I'll make sure they won't hurt you."

"How?" Adelaide slowly began to follow after her.

"Why do you think I asked you to bring all that smelly cheese?"

"_Hey, you stinky rats_," called out a squeaky voice. "_**Lady Fox**__ is here!!_"

"_Foxy's here?_" several more tiny voices called out.

Suddenly, (in Adelaide's description) a whole river of rats came out of the dark and began scurrying around the girl's feet.

"_What'd ya bring us?_" they kept asking Lady Fox, standing up on their back legs. "_What'd ya bring us? What'd ya bring us?_"

"_Easy, easy_," Lady Fox said, smiling as she walked over to Adelaide. She opened the basket and pulled out a big hunk of cheese. The rats instantly became excited and began crawling all over each other. "_Easy, easy. There's enough for all of you._" She threw the cheese to the far side of the sewer. The rats went chasing after it. Lady Fox, grabbing some more cheese, continued through the sewer, throwing the cheese from side to side. Adelaide, not wanting to be left behind, closely stayed by her side.

"You speak with rats?" she asked, amazed.

"Just well enough," Lady Fox said, tearing the last of the cheese into little chunks. "Those were just the Guard Rats. I will have a little more trouble speaking with King of Rats himself."

"They have positions and duties?" Adelaide asked, flabbergasted by all that she was learning from this shape-changing, animal talking witch.

"Why else would they be living in the sewers under the palace? Rats are like humans, except with a lot of fur, a little brain, and no idea how to groom themselves."

"_**Little brain**_," asked a tiny booming voice to her left. "_**I'll have you know that I have the knowledge to understand human better than the **__humans __**themselves!!**_"

"_Forgive me, your highness_," Lady Fox said, bowing low to a one-foot rat that just came out of the shadows. She pulled Adelaide into the bow with her. "_I meant no disrespect to you what-so-ever. How are your wives and children_?"

"_**Good, yet hungry**_," he said, looking at the cheese in her hands.

With the corner of her mouth raised, she threw the cheese in his direction. Several rats began to appear and started to chow down on it. Seeing that the cheese thrown wasn't enough for all of them, Adelaide threw a little more to them.

"_We thank you, lady_," the little rats all squeaked before disappearing back into the dark.

"_**Who is this charming lady that you have brought down to our humble sewers?**_" the King of Rats said, eyeing Adelaide.

"_A friend I met in the woods last night. She's hands off, Pewey._"

"_**That's **__King Pewey__**, Foxy**_."

"_And who helped put you on the throne, may I have to remind you, Pewey?_"

"_**You did, Lady Fox**_," he said, grumbling. "_**I should have remembered that you forget nothing. I'm guessing this isn't a social call then. What do you want this time?**_"

"_The same as always. Do you have any old rats that wouldn't mind dying now and in the form of a human?_"

"_**You know we do, since you asked**_," he said, giving her a look. He squealed out a command and seven old, gray, and could barely move rats came out of the dark.

"Exactly the number I needed," she said, smiling as she pulled out the other sack from her bag. Carefully, she placed each rat in the bag. "Thanks." She bowed low again (she didn't have to pull Adelaide down with her this time) and continued down the tunnel.

"_**Good-bye to you too, Foxy!!!**_" King Pewey called, angrily.

"_Adios, Pewey._" Lady Fox called over her shoulder.

Delighted for being helpful to the one human he respected and trusted, Pewey grabbed a piece of cheese and smiled after them.

_**Chapter 12**_

"And that's _Eight-Tail-Rings_," Lady Fox said, pointing at another rat that was in her sack. "She use to be friendly with _Barely-Has-Fur_ for five days before she fell in love with _Has-No-Hair_. Of course, he then left her when _Had-Twelve-Husbands_ came back to this sewer. She had left two months previously to check out the sewers at the edge of town, and rats that live in my woods. She wanted to become _Had-Baker's-Dozen-of-Husbands. _Oh look, she's in here too. That's everyone in the sack."

"Why do they give themselves those titles?" Adelaide asked, head spinning from all the rat names.

"They don't like human names. They say that they have no personality behind them; no clue to their identity. Take my name, for example. I am called many things by many people, but do any of those names tell you who I really am or what I have done so far with my life?"

"You scare and murder people for coming into your forest," Adelaide said, bravely. "You steal goods from merchants. You cast spells. You're a nuisance to our way of life."

"I also keep the Retches from coming too far into our country and help little boys and maidens from thieves and murderers. I protect the animals and the trees. I watch the stars and see insight to the next day's events. I don't find myself a nuisance at all. The rats are the only ones who have picked out the right name for me to truly call myself. We're here."

Handing the sack of rats to her, Adelaide reluctantly took them as Lady Fox observed the wall to her left. She pushed in a wall that looked as if it would fall apart at any second. It moved into the wall and a round disk took its place. "Halfway left," she mumbled, concentrating. "Quarter turn to the right and then left all the way around, twice."

Unexpectedly (to Adelaide's point of view), the wall behind them rolled away and revealed a candle lit room. Moaning and cries of pain could now be heard by the girls.

"I knew I still knew it," Scout said, smiling as she took back the bag of rats. She entered the room, very pleased with herself. "I don't forget things as easily like some people I know. Welcome to the castle dungeons. Population was eleven prisoners last season."

"Why are we here?" Adelaide asked, staying really close to her.

"To heal and jail break some of them," she answered with a joking voice while being completely serious. "Seven to be exact."

"Halt in the name of the king!" cried a voice from a dark tunnel to the left.

Adelaide turned to run back into the tunnel, but found that the entrance had already closed behind them.

"Halt your own body, William," Scout shouted back, annoyed. "It's only me."

"Identify thyself," commanded a young man coming into the light, spear at ready. His voice didn't have the same authority it once had.

"Alexia: Healer, Spell caster and Professional Prison Breaker," Scout said, now using her other name. "Seriously, Will, you by now should know that I'm the only one who ever enters the dungeon from this direction."

The knight lowered his spear, smiling. "Alexia. I figured I'd be seeing you soon enough. Who's the maiden?"

"My helper for the day: Adelaide. She can keep a secret. Can't you?"

"Yes, ma'am," Adelaide said, nodding her head vigorously. "I can keep secrets very secretive."

"Very well, I'll trust your judgment as I always do. Alexia, when do you plan on marring me?"

"I told you," Alexia said, smiling inwardly. "I don't wish to ruin our friendship with a marriage. Besides, the stars say that you will find a woman soon." Her eyes traveled to Adelaide then quickly looked away.

"Very well," he mumbled, not noticing her shifting eyes. He walked toward the tunnel on the right, both girls following. "Is the moment of dread drawing near?"

"I have estimated five days before sides will be known," Alexia said, gravely. "Have you been preparing yourself for it?"

"Everyday after my shift," Sir William answered. "Kemp has been practicing as well."

"I thought he didn't believe in me," Alexia said, surprised by the news.

"And he still doesn't believe in you, but he's not stupid, contrary to what you may think. He practices good and hard."

"How's your family? Did your ma lose that awful cough she had?"

"That and the stomach pains and headaches that were also bothering her. Danny keeps wondering when you'll visit again."

"Tell Danielle that we'll see one another soon. It won't be as happy of a time like my last visit. You won't like it either."

"Boys, look! Alexia's here!" called a voice from a cage that was dangling from the ceiling.

The moans and cries miraculously turned to greetings and cheers as these three figures came into view.

"Hello, thieves, cheats, and innocent bystanders," Alexia hollered, smiling at all of them. To William, she whispered, "There are a lot more than eleven."

"Thirty-nine to be exact. Sham has been giving no mercy," he whispered back. "He's been getting tougher with his sentences everyday. He has three killed after every meal just for his and the commanders amusement."

"Then I better make this quick," she said, placing the bag of rats into William's hands. "Adelaide, I'm going to need your help with the seriously injured men."

"You're going to heal them?" Adelaide asked, confused.

"No one else will," she said, rolling up her sleeves and finding her healing herbs and potions. "Let's get started and don't divide up all the food at once."

_**Chapter 13**_

"**T**hat's the last one," Alexia said, tying off a bandage and wiping the sweat off her face, smearing even more dirt onto her forehead. "Clean it every time you get water and _change_ the bandage after you clean it. I may not be here the next time you get sick from forgetting that one instruction. I know for a fact that young William here does ask if anyone needs a new cloth."

"So," the old man said, sadly. "The stars still say it isn't my time to leave."

"Just be patient, Joseph," she said, patting his shoulder. "You really shouldn't have tried to steal Sir Leopold's money pouch." She left the cell and locked it behind her. She turned her attention to the six she had selected.

After she healed their wounds, she stood in front of them, hands behind her back, sack of rats hanging at her side. "Well, congratulations," she said, after a moment. "You six have lasted these hours, days, months, or years in this dank, dark, smelly cavern. Now, you get your reward. You get to see the sun, clouds, stars, moon, all the earth and sky."

"She says this speech every year," one of the prisoners whispered to Adelaide. "Some of us older gents know it by heart. She manly says it for the younger folk who enter here. I think it suppose to give them some sort of hope for the future. Us older generation just see it as 'maybe next season'."

"How long has she been coming here?" Adelaide asked, turning her attention toward him.

"Don't know," he said, shrugging. "Longer than I've been here, but I've only been a prisoner here for eleven years. Shush now. She's coming to the best part."

Adelaide turned her head back to Alexia and watched as she placed six of the seven old rats in front of each man. She took a package out of her sack and pulled out what looked like blue dirt.

"On your _Word of Loyalty_ to me and Sanup, pick up your rat and prepare for the sensation of freedom once again," she instructed, smiling.

The men said good-bye to their fellow cellmates and happily picked up their rat. The rats hadn't moved sense being placed on the floor. Simultaneously, Alexia blew the blue substance at the men. It had appeared (from Adelaide and the new prisoners' point of view) that nothing had happened. Alexia quickly went and took the rats (who suddenly seemed full of energy) from the men's hands and placed them in the sack that they had once come from. Meanwhile, William placed each of the slow, old looking men back into the cages that they had once come from.

"Adelaide, can you hold Eight-Tail-Rings? I want to make sure that when I change the seventh, I won't accidentally pick the wrong rat. That has happened before."

"_Did_ you change them?" Adelaide asked, taking the rat without shivering.

"Of course," Alexia said, rolling her eyes. "The blue powder wasn't just some colored flour that I threw."

"But nothing happened," Adelaide said, looking at the rats in the bag who somewhat looked somewhat younger and more lively.

"What were you expecting?" Alexia asked, laughing. "A flash? A bang? Perhaps even some jabbering of nonsense words? That's entertainer magic. It's for show, nothing more. Really magic can be done without those things. Really magic is made from the head, heart, and sometimes powders, potions and spiritual objects. I guess some words are helpful for some spells, but those are for tiny spells, like tying your shoelace or hexing an object. Just take a look at the men if you want proof. A moment ago, they were full of life and happy to be getting out of here, and the rats were old and slow. Now, the men are looking older and can barely speak coherent words, but the rats are younger, full of life, and squeaky."

As Alexia said these things, Adelaide and the rest of the new prisoners saw the difference, and suddenly understood what happened. While they were watching the blue dirt fly over the men, they had missed the true magic. The men had become rats, and the rats had become replicas of the men! It was the slight of hand that made them miss the best part of her coming here! Only the older prisoners had watched as the transformation happened before the dust had settled to the ground and disappeared.

Adelaide stared at Alexia in amazement. "Who are you?" she asked, shaking her head.

"I am but a simple witch with a few tricks up her sleeves,' Alexia said, propping herself up against a wall. "I recommend you get comfortable. The seventh member of this rat bag won't be coming for some time."

Stroking the rat without really thinking about it, Adelaide sat and thought for some time about this being who saved her and who was more than what she presented. Meanwhile, Alexia fell into a doze.

_**Chapter 14**_

"**S**o how long have you known the witch?" Adelaide asked William.

"Not long," he answered, watching the stairs that led into the actual part of the castle. "I've only been Dungeon Guard for two years, and she's been coming for longer than that and always in a different disguise. The prisoners can recognize her with no difficulty. It still puzzles me how they know."

"The rats probably tell them," Adelaide joked, looking down at the one in her lap, wondering why she no longer felt disgusted by just simply seeing it.

William just shrugged and continued being wary of any possible intrusion.

"So how did you get into the king's army?" Adelaide asked after some time.

"Family tradition," William mumbled. "Father had me learn everything about being a soldier and signed me up when I turned sixteen. Before I was prison guard, I was door watcher. The old warden had died a mysterious death, so I was placed on his shift. Still, being a door guard was more interesting than this position, but we all must do our part in some way or another. At the moment, though, I'm kind of under the orders of Ms. Alexia. She has given me more purpose for my present position than my superiors."

"What _is_ going to happen?" she asked, confused. "Both the witch and you kept dropping hints about it, but I haven't can't seem to figure them out."

"What are you? A governor's daughter?" Will asked, taking his eyes off the stairs to look at her. "A Split War is what's going to happen! A war between the good people of Sanup who follow the king and Lord Malo and the minions who do his bidding. It's been brewing sense the old king died, God rest his soul. Alexia has foreseen it and has been acting upon it her whole life, making sure our side will be properly prepared for it. She has gathered together knights, commoners, castle servants, and the prisoners from here. You didn't really think she just came down here to free prisoners just for fun, did you? These men all want a piece of Lord Malo, and they will happily fight against him." There came an outcry from the prisoners, shouting threats and promises toward the king's advisor.

"But how will this war start?" Adelaide asked, surprised at the thought of a war happening in her lifetime. She had been born two years after the Retch-Sanup War, Part Twenty-Seven.

"With a betrayal," William said, lowering his spear and sitting down beside her. "Lord Malo will betray our king and will try to take the throne, but the _Forest Foxes_ will place the rightful king back on his throne, won't we boys?!"

Again, the prisoners shouted in agreement, being much louder and more convincing with this outburst. Adelaide settled back and thought about what this war could mean toward her and her family. It did not seem real that a war could begin while she was living. It had always seemed like a vague possibility. Her father was always in the palace, talking with Lord Sham every now and again, and it didn't seem possible that Sham wanted the position of king. Could the witch just be trying to set up trouble? But for what purpose?

The outburst awoke Alexia, who had been dreaming about present future events. Waking up before she was ready, she couldn't remember the dream. She did feel refreshed and full of energy than what she did that morning. Standing up, she strained her ears, concentrating hard on a noise above her.

"Hush!" she said to the thunderous mob. Miraculously, every last one of them quieted down till they could only hear the squeaking of rats in the bag. Will stood up and went to the door, listening for what Alexia heard.

Alexia quickly pulled Adelaide into the dark, grabbing the rat out of her hands at the same time. Handing her the sack of rats, she whispered, "Take them and empty them out near the edge of my woods on the west side. If I don't meet you an hour after you arrived," she pulled a red vile out of her pocket and handed it her, "pour one drop of this over each rat. They'll instantly turn back to men. Also, take my bag and hide it up in a tree. If you can't reach the branches, ask one of them to place it up there for you."

Suddenly, they heard the door above the stairs bang open and the scuffle of struggling men. Will, who had managed to jump back as the door slammed open, glanced at the place where the witch and the maiden stood then went to help.

"Other former prisoners will meet you at the edge. If they ask who you are, just say you are Alexia and walk away. Now, this is the most important part: don't turn around and look back, and don't memorize that part of the wood. Just go home and don't speak about what you have done. If asked, say you went and pick flowers or something. Do you have any logical questions?"  
"If this is the end of my first task, what will be second?" Adelaide asked, trying to believe that _she_, a governor's daughter, was going to free convicted prisoners and lie to her parents about it. "You said you would tell me after I finished the first one."

"Come here as often as possible and give these men a good meal. Some of them really haven't done anything wrong. Wrong place, wrong time type of scenario. That will be your second task. You know what the consequences will be if you fail."

"Pain and more pain," Adelaide said, nodding her head.

Going to the far wall not bathed in light, Alexia slammed her fist into a stone, making a door appear. "Do you remember how to get back in?"

"Yes. What are you going to do?" Adelaide asked, as she climbed into the tunnel.

"Try to collect the seventh prisoner, of course," Alexia said. "Then get the hell out of here, if possible. No worries about me, Ms. Ronieze. Just do your job and enjoy the fresh fruit." With those last words, the door closed, leaving Adelaide with many thoughts and many more questions.

_**Chapter 15**_

**S**cout watched from the shadows as six soldiers and William pulled one very tall man down the stairs and shoved him into a small cell. They slammed and locked the door quickly before the man could run out.

"What did he do?" William asked, mopping his brow with a dirty cloth.

"Does it matter?" one of the guards asked, angrily, breathing heavily. "He's an _Eyish_! What more of a reason do you need?"

"I do nothing!" the Eyish cried, angrily, tears running down his face. "I do not meant to run into man's wagon. I sorry!"

"Shut up!" a knight said, banging his sword against the bars. "Lord Sham said you're guilty, so you're guilty! Enjoy your new home." Laughing, the six knights climbed back up the steps.

Unable to stand it anymore, Scout came out of the shadows and placed a hex on the six men, making their legs wobbly and throats sore. William quickly shoved her back into the shadows before going to help the men up the stairs and into the wine cellar for their annual commemoration to themselves, men like themselves, and men in the past who were like them.

When the door had shut behind them, Scout came out of the dark, full of rage. "How can they call themselves _knights_?" she asked, the torches on the walls flickering from the conjured winds. "They should be beaten on the ass with their own swords!"

"Oh, we'll give them a whipping, don't you worry," an older prisoner promised. Others joined into the called, congratulating her on her spell and making their own promises on what they would do to the traitorous knights once they were free.

"Thank you," she said, quieting them and her winds down. "I know that you all will make me proud to be a Sanish. Although at the moment, I want to spit on our country's name."

Walking slowing toward the Eyish's cell, she looked in on the weeping figure inside. He looked up at her through his tear-streaked eyes. "Who you?" he asked, trying to look at her properly. "You angel?"

"Not even close," she said, walking in-between the bars toward him. "I'm the person who will be getting you out of here. You have no proper reason to be here. The stars have told me so."

"_Star Speaker_," he said, standing up on his knees to look her in the eyes. "What I do ta earn escape?"

"This is your choice. I will still release you since this isn't your country, but will you help me fight a war when the time to act comes? Your help would be most treasured."

"I will," he said, nodding his head with enthusiasm.

"Then touch your freedom," she said, holding out the rat. She had already sprinkled the blue powder on it.

Caught in the moment (and the thought of being above ground), the Eyish did as he was told.

_**Chapter 16**_

**T**he change happened instantaneously, and before Scout could put him safely in her pocket, he weaved through her attempts to grab him and ran around the dungeon.

"Forgot to tell him what would happen," one of the celled men said, watching as Scout tried to catch the frightened Eyish rat.

She was so busy trying to catch him that she didn't hear the door open, and the dream she had moments before was now becoming reality.

"Got you!" she said, pouncing on the rat.

"What the…Seize her!" the commander, who had been sent to question the Eyish, ordered, pointing a finger at Scout.

"Horse dung," she said, whirling around while tucking the Eyish into one of her deep pants pockets.

Two soldiers quickly grabbed her, one holding each arm.

"What are you doing down here?" the commander asked, walking up to her.

"What's it look like?" she asked, while in the background the prisoners were yelling at the soldiers to unhand her.

"I ask the questions around here," the commander yelled, turning red.

"Then ask a smart one and not a no-brainer," she smart mouthed.

Ready to blow his top, he just managed to choke out, "Take her to Lord Sham!"

"I don't think so," she said. She bring her arms together, she knocked the two knights into one another, instantly making them unconsciousness. She avoided the two others and dodged around the commander and ran out the main door, the prisoners cheering her on.

"_Never been in this part of the palace before_," she thought, zipping through the halls. "_The kitchen, the gardens, and the dungeons but I've never traveled the hallways. (Excuse me, sir. Sorry about the vase.) This will sure be a guess and luck escape. Aren't there any stairs in this place? I wish I could remember the maps at the moment. If only my dream hadn't been interrupted, I might know how to get out of this. The stars didn't tell me about this bit of the day. Did I miss it, or did they just not show me? (Low flag beam ahead.) Or is the reason why I won't be back at the cabin tonight is because I…? But I never get…_" She suddenly bumped into the knights who had brought in the Eyish man, the hex no longer in place. "Caught," she said aloud, backing up.

She tried to turn around but was cut off by the commander and the knights he had summoned to him.

"Well, well, well," he said, grinning evilly.

"That's right, I am well," Scout said, looking at for an escape. "So I'll just be leaving now." And with that, she leaped out the open window beside her. Somehow, she had climbed up through her journey through the castle and was now declining downward. Grabbing a passing flagpole, she used her falling momentum to fly threw the window next to it. Unfortunately, she landed in the room where, at that moment, the king and Sham had been arguing over whether or not to increase the tax rate on the common people. The conversation stopped with Scout's appearance.

The three stood, unmoving, looking at each other. One looked at Scout first with annoyance, then with confusion, as if trying to recall something. The other looked at her, also first with annoyance, next with confusion, as if he, too, was trying to place her, and then finally with examination. Scout looked at the two men with apprehension, waiting to see who would make the first move against her.

_**Chapter 17**_

**T**he door slammed open just then, and several knights and the one commander stumbled in, ending the silent moment.

Seeing the king, they all quickly bowed. Taking advantage of their bent backs, Scout leaped and bounded from back to back until she was out the door and down the corridor.

"After her!" the commander shouted, enraged at his men. "She must not escape!"

"Commander," the king called, stopping the man before he left.

"Yes, Your Majesty?" the commander asked, bowing low to his king.

"Who was that girl?" he asked, walking out into the hall to see the last knights vanish down the next hall.

"Sire, she is a commoner who was found in the dungeons, catching rats. She was rude to me and is resisting capture."

"She can't be a mere commoner if she was able to fly in through the window," the king said, laughing. "If you do capture her, place her in the west tower. I deal with her tomorrow."

"As you wish, Your Highness," the commander said, bowing while giving a sideways glance at Sham, who nodded his head in agreement.

"Commander!" a knight said, running up to them. He quickly bowed to the king and then pounded his chest twice to his commander. "We have her trapped in the Great Hall!"

"Good, then take her up to the west tower," the commander ordered, smiling with pride for his men and his position.

"That's," the knight said, sheepishly. " That's were we have problem."

"And why's that?" Sham asked, always hating to be left out of important conversations.

"When I said we had her trapped, I didn't mean we actually had her," he said, fumbling with his words. "I mean…well, um…she…you'll just have to see for yourselves, sires."

The commander and Sham shared a roll of the eyes toward the soldier before having a whispered conversation as they followed the king and the jittery soldier to the Great Hall.

_**Chapter 18**_

"_**Y**__ou can't reach me_," Scout sang, hood placed over her head to hide her searching eyes. She was trying to figure out the best way to escape from her position without the slightest chance of getting caught.

"How did she get atop the _Great Fireplace_?" Sham asked the knight who had brought them to the scene.

"She jumped over some of our men and climbed up there, sir," the knight answered, shrugging with helplessness.

"I used my own to legs and arms," Scout said, obviously very pleased with herself, looking down at the ever-growing crowd. I believe that this was the first time in Sanup's history that both the nobles and the peasants/help were in the same room together with no complaints about the other party. Shows you what kind of country Scout was living in.

The Great Fireplace was five feet long, twenty feet high and six feet wide with many great hunting beasts, wars, and trees carved exquisitely into its fine marble. Scout was at the top, sitting down like she didn't care at the great triumph only she had accomplished when no boy (who had been either brave or challenged by his friends) could make it to the halfway point where the two lions were carved. At the top sat two beautifully carved dragons, each guarding a banner of Sanup: the White Tree and the Red Fox. Scout sat between the mighty beasts. She almost looked as if she belonged up there with them.

"Commander, considering the situation, I suggest you either try to get her down or ask her the question that need asking," Sham said, glaring at him. "You _do_ know what questions to ask, hopefully?"

"Yes, sir," he said.

"Oh, this should be good," Scout said as he stepped forward.

"Commoner, as _**Commander of the Palace Guards**_, I _order_ you to come down at once!"

Sham sighed with embarrassment and hid his face in his hand. "Idiot," he mumbled, not even bothering to whisper.

"I'm not in your army," Scout said, from the top of the fireplace. "So you have no right to give me direct orders. That's what your no-account henchmen are good for. Still if they did order me, I still wouldn't listen, and they can't climb up here to pull me down and beat me up."

"Commoner, how you came to be in dungeon?" the commander asked, trying to save face.

"The same way I would have gotten out had you not interrupted me," she answered, sounding irritated.

In the Great Hall, dukes, duchesses, counts, and other royalty who had been present when Scout had run into the room (including Adelaide's father) were still present now, and they smiled at Scout's quick wit. The servants looked up at her with worry.

"Maybe I should be asking _who_ let you in since there is only two ways in and out of that dungeon," the commander said, thinking.

'Shows what you know,' Scout thought. Nodding her head to the commander, she said "Yes, perhaps you should."

"Then who let you in," he asked, thinking he had caught her.

"The same person who will someday let me out," she responded. Looking up at the ceiling, she clasped her hands together and said, "Thank-you, Dear Lord, for creating me and letting me into this world, and I hope that by your will and not others, I will someday leave this world and walk into your open arms."

"_Amen_," said some of the servants standing by the many entrances into the Great Hall.

Beginning to turn red (more with anger this time than embarrassment), the commander asked, "Think you're funny, eh, Commoner?"

"Me? No!" she said with mock shock. "Me never funny, sir. Me always very serious. Very serious. Me just dumb gutter-slime girl who finds rat a good source of protein." At this point, she pulled the Eyish rat out of her pocket.

Many of the ladies fainted and several of the men looked like they wanted to pass out as well. The knights, Sham, and the commander looked as if they were about to be sick. The king just looked at her, glad he was allowing the others to question her. It wouldn't be as funny if he were doing it.

"Well, I can make a funny," the commander said, trying to recompose himself. "I can make a real fine funny. Do you want to hear it?"

"No, not really," she said, stroking the rat, making some more ladies faint.

"I'm not in the mood to split my gut. I still need it to digest this rat." The remaining ladies (except the peasant/servant women) passed out.

"Oh, I think you'll like this one," the commander said, forcing out a smile. "I'll have my runner knight go and fetch the kingdom's archers. They'll come running with their little wooden bows and arrows. I'll then issue a command. Do you know what that command will be?"

"To help you with a punch line?" she suggested.

The remaining people who were standing laughed a little at her comment, knowing full well what that command would be. The commander nodded his head, and a knight took off the fetch the Castle Archers.

_**Chapter 19**_

"**Y**ou do know that you archers couldn't shoot a tree in a forest, right?" she asked, this time being completely serious.

"Commander," Sham said, stepping forward. "Can't you do anything to shut her up? She's really starting to become annoying."

"Then why don't you leave?" Scout asked. "I'm just becoming annoyed of you as you are of me. You can come back when your supposed great archers run out of arrows, and your commander tries to come up with another plan to scare me. Rabid carrier pigeons perhaps?"

"Girls should be seen and not heard," Sham said, becoming angry, "Unless spoken to by their betters!"

"And a gentleman never raises a voice to a lady," King Leopold said, stepping up.

Suddenly, everyone (that could) bowed to the king, just realizing that he was in his or her presence. Scout remained seated; she, the commander, Sham, and the king, himself, being the only ones who didn't show respect.

"Of course, you already know that," the king said, patting Sham on the back. "Didn't you, Sham?"

"Yes, You Highness, I knew that," he said, mad at the boy. "But, as you can see, she is no lady. Would a lady hold a rat? Would a lady climb a fireplace? Would a lady wear men's clothing? Would a lady hide her face behind a hood? Would a lady talk back to her superiors?"

"Do you question your king's wording?" the king asked, raising an eyebrow.

"How do you mean?" Sham asked.

"Well, if I called her a _lady_, then a lady she must be. Correct?"

"I suppose so," Sham said through grinding teeth.

"Dear lady," the king said, turning his attention toward Scout, who had been watching the performance with thought. "Will you please come down from your perch and have a civilized conversation with us poor gentlemen?"

"You're not achieving any points with the _L_ word," Scout informed him, swinging her legs as they dangled above the ground. "And your sweet talk wouldn't even bring a dog to you. I am fine where I sit. A nicer chair could not take the place of this handcrafted fireplace I'm on. You're after my rat, aren't you? That's the reason you want me down: to steal my hard earned rat."

"Do you know whom you're speaking to?" the commander asked, getting really tired of Scout's cheek.

"Yeah, I do," she shot, glaring down at him, her change of mood surprising the court. "The question should be do _you_? I was speaking to _Leopold Lexus_ _Lionfeather_, son of _Richard Rupert Lionfeather_, grandsire of _Magnus Miguel Lionfeather_, and so on and so forth. Until, finally, as dates show, we come to his twenty-third generation grandfather, _Fernando Frances Faramer _who was the first man to farm and protect this very land from lions, dragons, ogres, and outsiders with his own two hands. But surely, you all already knew that?"

The room was silent. Not the history teachers, recorders, Sham, or even King Leopold for that matter, could say he/she knew that bit of history.

"So," the king said, breaking the silence. "You're not going to come down? You're not going to allow any escape options to come to you?"

"Exactly, what escape options are there for me down there? I have thought up several from just sitting up here."

"Then lets see you escape," Sham challenged, voice full of skepticism.

"I don't wish to," she said, acting like a child who's been told to eat all her green vegetables. "I need to be up here to prove what dreadful shots your beloved archers are."

"You're _loco_!" a duchess called from the floor.

"I'm not crazy," Scout said with no humor in her voice. "I'm different; eccentric on some occasions perhaps, but not unwise."

"May I ask what's so special about that rat you hold?" the king asked, pointing to it.

"You are after it, aren't you?" she accused, holding it closer to her. "You want my plump, young, good-looking little morsel all to yourself."

Before the king could comment, the main doors opened with a "_**BANG**_," and many men in clanking armor entered the room, somewhat forming a straight line. Suddenly, one of them lost his balance and fell, causing a domino effect with his fellow arms men.

"I give you your _Noble Archers_," Scout said waving an arm in their direction, a smile evident on her face.

_**Chapter 20**_

"**S**ee how they gracefully fall together as one," she continued, trying not to laugh at the commander's ever reddening face.

"Up on your feet!" the commander shouted, steaming. "See how your target laughs at you? When a target laughs at you, it laughs at what you stand for, for what you _protect_! You protect the land, the people, the kingdom, our history, and you protect the _king_. Do you want someone laughing at you king?"

"_**NO, SIR**_!" the archers chorused, coming to stand in a somewhat perfect line.

"Load arms," the commander said. "No kill shots. Ready? Fire Arrows!"

Arrows flew through the air. Women (those that had awoken) turned their heads. Men stood, their mouths open in horror at what they were witnessing. All waited until the last arrow was shot, then all turned back to the fireplace and gasped.

"You forgot to say _aim_, genius," Scout said, collecting all the missed arrows and pushing them off the fireplace, still sitting in the same position. She then moved her cloak back behind her. She had used it as a shield just in case the archers had gotten better. "Good speech and all, but if you would have said '_Aim_', it would have been worth a little acknowledgment to me."

"Witch," the commander said, surprised by saying the word himself.

"_Witch_." The word spread like startled herd of deer. Those that once thought that she was brave and funny now thought of her as dangerous, evil, and a threat to them and their families. Everyone backed up a foot from the fireplace, as if afraid to catch some awful disease.

"Well, that blew my growing positive popularity out the door," Scout said, looking disappointed.

"Tell us who you are," the king said. He and Sham had been the only two people not to move from their positions.

"That is impossible," she said. "I am many things to many people. All these people here could give you a name for me, but then I have some others that I'm called."

"Could you perhaps give us some examples then," the king asked. Sham looked on with interest. This young witch reminded him of someone but as of _whom_, he could not say.

"Examples?" she asked, confused. "Um…where to begin? The rats down in your sewers call me _**Lady Fox**_."

"Why _Lady Fox_?" the king asked, looking at her as if she really was crazy.

"That would be none of your business," she said. "The trees call me _**Elff**_; the wind calls me _**Sister**_. In the town below, I'm known as _Mudchild_." Here she spat on the floor, as if sickened by the name. "The traveling merchants call me _**Nuisance**_. And to those who enter my woods, I am _**Witch**__**of the Wood**_!"

The servants gasped. They didn't really think that she would give up her identity that soon. (Yes, they too had been preparing for the coming war.) Quietly, they snuck out of the room without drawing attention to themselves to discuss the meaning behind it.

The noblewomen fainted, once again, at the name (they obviously had much practice for such occasions), and the noblemen talked to one another, forgetting about the women being on the floor. The archers turned white, the royal soldiers' knees began to tremble, and the commander looked confused. The king looked at her with disbelief. How could this little girl be the most fearful being in his kingdom? Sham looked at her with hatred. He had wanted to meet the haunter of the woods for sometime, but now it appeared that she would be of no use to him. He was also asking himself the same question the king was asking.

"If who you say you are is true," Sham said, loudly. Everyone stopped talking and some of the women started waking up. "Then you must realize that if we lay hands on you, you will be convicted and sentenced to be burned in the town square. I wonder how much joy that would bring to the town's folk? With the Full Moon Celebration coming up in a few days and the last witch in the kingdom dead, we'll certainly be seeing happier days ahead." Almost everyone nodded his or her heads in agreement. The rest just thought about it. Would getting rid of her be the best thing for this country? Or the worst?

"Well that's the thing, isn't it _Lord Malo_," she said, glaring down at him as she stood up. "You'd have to lay your filthy hands on me. Good luck with that." She took one step back and then took a two-step leap and caught the crystal chandelier hanging a few meters away.

"Your arrows! Your arrows on the ground," yelled Sham hysterically. "Shoot her! Shoot her down!"

"Damn," Scout said, trying to get the chandelier to swing further than it would go. She didn't estimate on someone keeping his or her head after her performance. Taking a chance, she made a leap to the next chandelier and just nearly missed it.

"Cut the ropes attached to the chandelier!" Sham shouted, grabbing a sword out of a startled knight's sheath. "Bring her down!"

Realizing the chandeliers were no longer any good to her, she made the one she was on spin in a circle, getting her closer to one of the flagpoles hanging on the wall. She hurdled at the flag, the chandelier crashing behind her a few seconds later. Sighing with relief, she looked down at the chaos.

The archers were picking up their fallen arrows, Sham was bouncing up and down like someone was using him to churn the butter, and the king was watching all the excitement with disbelief and amusement. This was the funniest thing that has ever happen in the Great Hall sense Sham slipped on a banana peel, falling smack on his back, enabling him to work for two months.

'I better get out of here,' she thought. She grasped the next flag and swung from it to the next to the next, arrows flying behind her. Upon reaching the flag nearest to the window, she clung to the sill and pulled herself up and through, arrows missing her by inches. All this she did without her hood flying off her head. Pretty impressive, huh?

_**Chapter 21**_

"**I** don't care what it takes," Sham said, face completely red. "I want that _witch_ captured, dead or alive!"

"Ignore that order," the king said. The soldiers instantly stopped moving, watching as the king and Sham glared at one another.

"Sire, that girl just made a mockery of this kingdom," Sham said, eyes bulging.

"No," the king said, shaking his head. "You did. You went past your duties as an advisor and made yourself a commander. Your commands were just as bad as Commander Snitch's questions."

"Your majesty," Sham said, trying very hard to control his temper. "That woman knew more about you than what our own scholars could say. She must be a spy. Maybe to the Retches, maybe to someone else. We need to either capture her now before she runs back to her own country. Dead would probably be safer than alive for us. Just this morning, we caught an Eyish man making trouble in the streets. Thankfully, I passed judgment on him and sent him to dungeon where he'll be hanged at noon. Suppose that he came to this county just to pick up that little miscreant?"

"But you heard her yourself," the king said. "She said she was the infamous _Witch of the Wood_. She couldn't be a spy."

"She claims she's the _Witch of the Wood_," Sham said. "But we all know that the _Witch of the Wood_ is an old hag with no skin and crooked teeth that has no mercy and takes no prisoners."

"So explain to me how she's different from you?" the king said, looking at him.

Ignoring this attempt at an insult, Sham continued, "We want to be sure, don't we sire? So instead of killing her like I first suggested, can't you give the order to have her apprehended?"

"For once, Sham," the king said, smiling, "you have some good advice. Commander Snitch!"

"Yes, your highness," the commander said, strolling on up.

"If it won't be too difficult for you," the king said. "Capture that woman and bring her back here to be questioned."

"I'm afraid that job will take your best men, majesty," the commander said, humbly. "As you can see the trouble it took my men to capture her."

"Very well then," the king said, nodding his head. "Carry out the order and find someone to clean up the mess Sham made."

"Yes, your majesty," the commander said, using his bow to hide his evil smile.

The king nodded his head and thinking about the day's events, he walked off.

Sham and the commander exchanged smiles and went their separate ways. Meanwhile, a pair of watchful eyes blinks and hurried away, closing the door behind him.

_**Chapter 22**_

**S**cout hurried down the side of the castle and jumped over the wall, landing in a tree. There she watched as the king's best men galloped out of the palace gates and down the road.

"Something's wrong," she whispered, surprised. She hurriedly climbed out of the tree and started running for her woods.

"What's going on?" she asked when she got to the secret _Bush Talk_.

"The king has ordered a search party to go and get you," a voice said on the other side of the bush. "He sent all his best men."

"Damn," she said, angrily. "Somehow, by showing myself, I have set things into motion too fast. The treason will now occur either today or tomorrow."

"Most likely today, my lady," the voice said, becoming worried. "Many of us were wondering why you gave yourself away today instead of when the king was brought onto our side like you originally planned?"

"Now seemed like the perfect time," she said, sheepishly. "Give me a break. I'm not perfect."

"Many of us believe you are, my lady," the voice said, embarrassed.

"Just be happy I've kept the war off this long. If I hadn't, it would have begun a moment before the king was crowned. Surely he must have kept some of our knights in the palace?"

"No, my lady. He sent them all away. Sir William is still there but he's on strict watch. The commander blames him for letting you in. Some of ours tried to stay but…you already met the commander."

"He's a buffoon in armor," she spat, making the voice laugh nervously. "All of our best men are sent on a stupid hunt for me. This is not good for our side."

"What would you have us do?" the voice asked, eyes peering through the bush to see her.

"Gather up our people and send them to our camp on the west side of the woods. Along the way, collect as many of the villagers that are on our side as you can. Tell everybody to bring only what they need. Money does not count. Have someone go and inform Jizues, Alfrado, and Roberto where to go. They're on the east side of the woods in a log cabin, twenty leagues from the main path. Bring all the horses and all my cloaks to the east camp. And somebody find the knights that are searching for me and direct them to that camp as well."

"And what will you do, if you don't mind my asking my lady?"

"What do you think?" she asked a little laughter in her voice. "I'm going to go save the king. I just took a tour of the palace, so I know where to go. Keep the servant's entrance open for me. And take this rat," she pushed the Eyish rat through the bushes to where the voice was coming from. "I don't want to drag him back to where he was about to become member of Sham's death list."

"Very well, my lady," the voice said, taking the rat and placing it into his apron. "Good luck."

"You too, Mr. Baker," she said before jumping back into the trees.

The castle chef looked after her for a moment before looking at the rat. "You have it easy," he said as he headed back to the castle. "You don't have to worry about the setting up of this war, just the fighting part. My lady has too much on her shoulders already to worry about everything. Good thing we in the palace try to help her out as much as we can. Maps, information on the secret passages, and observation on the king and court are just a few things that we did in her service. I hope that will be enough, because if it's not, we're in big trouble."

_**Chapter 23**_

"**N**eed a plan," Scout said, walking down the road toward the castle. "I need some sort of plan. I can't just go barging in there if nothing has happened yet. The king might get the wrong impression. What impression that would be, I have no clue. It makes me now wish that I had paid more attention to his attitude than his history. I don't think that will help me now."

She hid behind a stone statue of a knight riding a gallant stallion and looked at the castle for sometime. "I hate places that look too calm for comfort. You can never really tell what's going on."

Looking around, she quickly snuck to the wall and went in the Servant's Entrance. Walking past the laundry room, she entered the maid's Ready Room. She put on one of the maid's clothing over her own, taking off her cloak, regretfully, and hiding it in the extra sack she had used to hold the rats. She couldn't find any shoes that would fit her feet, so she left her sandals off (which looked as if they were going to break any minute) and put her boots on, praying that no one would look at her feet. Lastly, she changed her hair from straight brown to wildly curly red.

Peering out the door, she stepped out and fiddled with the apron that didn't fit quite right on her. "How women can defend themselves in these things is a universal mystery to me," she mumbled, walking through the kitchen door and entering the Great Hall, which was still filled with some of the spectators from the morning.

Not looking at any of them, she hurried through and went out through one of the doors. She ended up in a very dim hallway. Hoping her eyes weren't shining, she walked to the other side and walked up a flight of stairs. Keeping her head bowed, her eyes searched around, memorizing all she saw. She took a left and then a right, running into a dead-end. Examining the wall, she pressed a brick at the top and a door appeared. She quickly went inside and the door slammed shut behind her. 'Thank goodness our people know more about the castle than the enemy,' she thought, lightly walking through the pitch-black tunnel. Upon reaching the end, she punched a brick on her right and a door opened in front of her. Stepping out, she found herself in the King's Chamber. Hearing movement in a joining room, she softly snuck over and peered in.

Sham was having a private conversation with the Commander of the Guards. Narrowing her eyes in distrust, she concentrated her hearing ability on what was being said. Before she could make out what they were saying (they were using some sort of code), she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking behind her, she saw a grinning knight. "Hi," he said, evilly. He pushed her in, saying, "Excuse the interruption, my lord. I caught this little mouse snooping behind yon wall."

Sham and the commander stopped their conversation to look at her. "How much did she overhear?" Sham asked, glaring at her.

When she didn't answer, the knight squeezed her shoulder, trying to make her cringe. Use to such pains, she didn't cry out or make a face, which attracted the commander's attention.

"She is no common maid," he said, walking up to her. "She must be either a spy or an unfeeling hag."

Giving him an infuriated look, she spat in his face.

"Enough of this," Sham said. "We have wasted too much time. The knights will be back any second. Take her to the throne room. Commander, go get the king. We'll deal with everyone there and get my crowning under way."

_**Chapter 24**_

**S**cout was roughly dragged to the throne room by the disgustingly happy looking knight, wondering how she had gotten everything into motion this fast. It was only just last night when she read that the war was five days away, but all of a sudden, it appeared that the beginning of the war was starting right at that moment.

Just as she entered the Throne Room, two brutish looking knights were also pulling in the king. Sham was sitting on the king's throne, looking very proud of himself, the commander standing just off to the side.

"Welcome," Sham said, standing. He had on the king's crown and cape; the royal scepter was leaning against the queen's old chair.

"You will hang for this, Sham!" the king shouted, trying to break free.

"Silly boy," Sham said, smiling. "It is you who will hang or die by whatever intriguing idea I come up with. First, though, who is this girl you had spy on me. She's very pretty and too curious to be an ordinary servant."

Scout didn't say anything and the king looked at him confused.

"I sent no one to check up on you, unfortunately," the king snarled, looking from Scout to Sham.

"So we just have a snoop then," Sham said, coming down the steps to look at her in the face.

Scout glared at him, wishing death upon him. She was upset that she didn't know that spell, her fathers never letting her explore that far in her magical learning.

Sham looked her up and down, licking his lips. He reached her feet, he gave a surprised, "What's this?" He then noticed her bag that had been hidden by her apron and grabbed it, pulling out her cloak. He then smiled. "Meet our witch from this mourning. Forgot something, did we?"

"Yes, your head!" she snarled, trying to lay hands on him.

"Feisty," Sham said, delirious with joy. "Looks as if we will have our Full Moon Bonfire, Commander."

"How wonderful," the commander said, smiling. "Do you think we should add the king to our blaze? Cover his head with a sack so the people won't know and say he's a Retch spy?"

"For once," Sham said, looking at him. "You have a very good idea. That will certainly put the people in our favor for a time."

"If you think it will, your crazy," the king said as if he still had the power to give orders.

"Maybe," Sham said. "But I'm the one who has you captured, little boy."

"Not for long," Scout said, smiling. She lifted her leg up high, kicking the knight in the hurtful area. He dropped like a sack of raw potatoes. She then punched Sham in the jaw, knocking him onto the floor.

"Get her!" the commander yelled, coming down to help Sham.

Ten knights entered the hall, looking ready for a fight. Drawing the fallen knight's sword, she swung it around her wrist, smiling. "Who's first?" she asked, eyes flashing. The knights suddenly looked uneasy.

One of them came charging forward. Scout easily dodged him, hitting him in the butt as he passed with the broad end of the sword.

"Is that all you got?" she asked, trying to hold in her laughter. She had never been in an actual sword fight before, and the adrenaline was intoxicating.

Two knights came at her. She blocked all their blows before sending them some of her own, knocking one out and pushing the other to the ground. Two more came at her. She handle them like they were amateurs and soon had them running out of the room in fear, along with three others who thought fighting her would not be very honorable. Now there were four knights. One of the knights holding the king walked over and joined the fight, making it five to one. Well, six to one; Scout's old captor had just gotten over being stunned. Suddenly, the king was standing beside her, holding a sword.

"What are you doing?" she asked, angrily.

"Helping you out," he responded, watching the knights warily.

"You mean ruining my fun," she said, swirling her sword again. "Go sit down and let me have my play time. Besides, I don't fight alongside young boys."

"I'm eighteen-years-old; I know how to fight," he said, glancing at her.

"And you're crazy."

"Only when it comes to what amuses me. Fine, you can join in. I'll take the six; you watch my back."

"How about you take three, I take three?" he suggested.

"Are you purposely trying to ruin my day?" she asked before charging into the knights, sword flashing.

"Why not?" he asked himself, waiting as two knights came at him. "My day is already in the sewers."

Scout dodged and weaved, laughing like a maniac, scaring the knights into more of a defensive fighting position than offensive. She soon had four knights down and was moving to take care of the king's only two.

"Not done yet?" she asked him, gleefully.

"You know," the king said, defending himself more than attacking. "I think I've just figured out who you remind me of."

"Really?" she asked, knocking out her knight and easily took care of the king's. "Who?"

"Do you know an _Alfrado Morenci_?"

"He's only the best fighter in the knighthood," she said as she neared the commander, who was backing away from her, pale as a ghost. "Now what should I do with you?"

More out of fear than thought, he ran to a silk cord and pulled it, making a gong sound off somewhere. Scout heard the sound of the reinforcements marching, and the king saying with amazement, "So that's what it's for."

"I didn't think the war would end the same day it began," she mumbled to herself as she waved a hand.

A curtain suddenly flew toward the commander and wrapped itself around him, making him unable to move or see. She looked at the entrance doors; instantly, they were closed and barred. Sham came awake as Scout came walking down the steps. She raised her sword above him and before she could strike, the king intercepted her.

"I don't know where you come from," he said, knocking Sham out again with the butt end of his sword, "but here, we do not kill in cold blood. Now, do you have an escape plan ready for us?"

"It depends on how you would like to exit," she said, angry with him. "Out the window or through the dungeon?"

"What would you take?" he asked, giving her a look.

"I prefer window," she said, looking at the highest one.

"So I noticed," the king said, following her as she headed toward one of the shadowed walls. He watched as she hit one of the bricks forcefully and quickly jump back as a door came swooshing out. Too shocked to move, Scout had to grab the king and pull him through the door. She then hit another brick and their entrance slammed closed, just as the reinforcements broke through.

_**Chapter 25**_

"**H**ey, look," one of the prisoners in a cage cried, happily. "Alexia's back!"

"Who would like to escape today?" Alexia asked, tearing the maid out-fit off her. She didn't even wait for the cheers to start before she was already blasting their doors open.

"Why the change in plans?" Joseph asked as he was helped out of his cell.

"If the stars don't tell me the whole truth," Alexia said, lowering one of the birdcages. "Then I see no reason why I should follow all that they instruct."

When the last man was free, Alexia yelled, "Everyone! Are you ready to help your country?" The noise was unbelievably loud. It was, after all, a rhetorical question.

"_**QUIET**_!" shouted the dethroned king, holding up his hands. Everyone stopped and looked at him. Realizing who he was, they all quickly bowed.

"What is it?" Alexia asked, crossing her arms.

"What the hell is going on here?" the king asked, coming to stand in her face. "And who are you to think that you can just release _Prisoners of the Royal Dungeon_?"

"_Royal Dungeon_?" she asked, giving him the look right back at him, hers more influential than his. "You call _this_ a _**Royal Dungeon**_? It looks like any other dungeon. And as for my rights, I don't' answer to anyone but my own conscience."

Before the king could say anything, a voice commanded, "Halt! Who goes there?" The former king raised his hands in defeat.

"Will, can you ever say that to the _right_ person," Alexia asked, giving the ex-king a look as she walked toward a surprised William.

"Well, two visits from you are odd," he explained, lowering his spear. He looked at all the prisoners and asked, "I thought it was five days away?"

"So did I," Alexia said. "Recent events, though, have made me question my star-gazing ability."

"Don't do that," Will said as they walked over to the hidden passage. "That ability helped us find out about the coming battles. Are we going to free the other prisoners?"

"We'll save the real criminals for another day," Alexia said, pushing in on the wall. A handle appeared out of it and she pulled on it, opening the hidden door. "I would like to count our numbers first before I set them loose."

"_**LADY FOX**_," King Pewey shouted, appearing out of the wall. "_**I demand a reason for this entire ruckus in my kingdom!**_"

"_Put a sock in it, Pewey_," Lady Fox said, giving him a look. "_We'll be out of here in no time._"

"_**I thought that blasted war of yours…**_"

"_Was five days from now? It was suppose to be. Let your guards know that'll we're coming through. Send messages to your people in the woods that they're coming and have them relay the message to my people._"

"_**Anything else, my lady**_," King Pewey asked, twitching his nose.

"_That will be all_," she said, bowing to him. "_Bye, Pewey._"

"_**Yeah, yeah.**_" Pewey said, walking back into the dark. "_**Adios**_."

"Question," Former King Leopold said as they continued down the tunnel. "Why do you bow to a rat and not to me?"

"Because Pewey has earned my respect as a ruler. You're still in doubt, but that won't stop me from placing you back on the throne. Interesting that I do that for a lot of creatures."

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, angrily.

"The day you were announced _King of Sanup_, I placed Pewey on the Rodent Throne. You should have met the last king. He was a real snake."

"Who ever heard of a rat being a snake?"

"No, it really was a snake that was on the throne. And you met Sham, correct? He's a rat with a snake's mind, camouflaged as a man. Figuratively speaking now, not literally."

_**Chapter 26**_

**W**hen they reached the sewer entrance, Scout stopped them from rushing out.

"We don't want to go off charging like a herd of wild deer," she said, glaring at them all. "You men will go in groups of small numbers. Make sure there's at least an older prisoner with you. He'll tell you where you need to go. William, you better head back toward your house. You know your sister."

Nodding his head, he looked around before slipping off through the brush and on into town.

"I need to go check on something for a minute, but I will meet you before dark. Good luck to you all and most important: _Don't get caught_."

"I'm going with you," the king said, following after her.

"You most certainly will not," she said, turning on him. "I've worked too hard for our side to have it all vanish because of some kingly fool! Now, get back with the prisoners and wait your turn to leave. I will meet you back at camp."

"Oh, no you don't," he said, grabbing her arm. "My day hasn't been the best, and the only reason why I think it's been bad is because of you. I want some answers and I want them NOW!"

"Be silent, you fool!" Scout said, covering his mouth. "Do you want the enemy to hear? Fine. You can come, just don't hold me up."

Glaring at him, she started walking of through the woods. The king tagged along, wondering how a girl can be that bossy. He, by no means, had anyone like her in his court and was hoping he, in no way, _ever_ would.

"Hold up," the king said, panting. "Stop would you please."

"Not another rest," Scout said, sighing, turning around, but not stopping. "You just had a rest a few hours ago."

"That's right: _hours ago_," the king said, giving her an exhausted look. "Some of us don't have everlasting energy."

"I don't have everlasting energy," she said, surprised. She stopped and walked back toward him.

"Oh, really?" he asked. "When do you sleep?"

"Every three or four days," she said, thinking about it. "Sometimes a week goes by before I can feel secure enough to close my eyes. I slept last night and a little bit this morning."

"So did the rest of the kingdom," the former ruler shot.

"If you have energy to argue," she said, glaring at him before she began walking again, "then you have energy to continue."

"Where are we going anyway?" he asked as he sluggishly started moving.

"The end of this road and to the right for another mile," she said, turning to face where she was going. "Even less if I went by myself."

"How much less?" he asked, trying to catch up with her.

"Um…a breeze there, at least twenty minutes when there, and a breeze back," she said. "Why? You want me to go on ahead?"

"As long as you come back to tell me what the hell is going on," he said, leaning against a tree.

"If you are going to stay here, get behind those bushes and don't make a sound until I get back."

Nodding his head, he didn't notice she was gone until he was behind the bushes and was looking up and down the trail for her. Suddenly not caring where she went, he settled himself against a tree and tried to regain his breath.

Near sunset, she returned with two apples and a bottle of brandy.

"About time you showed up," the dethroned king said angrily as she threw him an apple.

"How sweet of you to miss me," she said, throwing the brandy into the air where the moment it reached its highest point vanished with a '_Pop_'.

The former king stared at her in astonished amazement. "Why would you go and do a thing like that for?!" he yelled, standing up.

"Do what?" she asked, breathing on her apple and shining it on her shirt. "Before you answer that, I told our destination that I would be arriving tomorrow afternoon if my baggage manages the strain of the road."

"What is our destination?" he asked, mournfully looking where the bottle had vanished.

"Freedom Camp," she answered before taking a big bite from the apple. "That's what the villages living there have come to call it anyway. I just consider it the camp to the west."

"All right," the dethroned king said, throwing down his apple. "I want to know right now who you are, and what your part in all this is!!!"

Scout sighed and took another bite of her apple. "Where to begin?"

"Start with your name," he said.

She gave him a puzzled look. "I already told you my name. Remember? Great Hall. I was sittting above the fireplace. Your archers tried to hit me and failed. Women swooned. Any of this ringing a bell?"

"Yeah, I know all that. But what is your _real_ name? What was the name you were blessed with?"

She looked toward the setting sun. "My fathers call me _Scout_ when I'm home. When I'm not at home, I call myself _Pavana_. I like to keep my home and work lives separate."

Deciding that was the best he was going to get, the king asked the question that head really been on his mind. "How did you know that Sham would betray me? How did you know?"

"Besides the obvious bad-guy name?" She asked, giving him a small smile. "I've known that he would betray you for a long time. I was just a child when I received the premonition fortelling your fall from the throne and the war that would see you back on it."

"War?"

"The war that I have been preparing for sense that vision. We already have over five hundred men prepared to fight for your throne. We have just been waiting for this day to begin our plans."

He looked at her in surprise before taking his own look at the sun. "So are we camping out here or do you have a place for us to sleep?"

"I have a place," she said, walking into the woods. "And it is safe enough. Come on now. Don't doddle."

Shaking his head and rolling his eyes, the Former King Leopold followed the Witch of the Wood deeper into her territory.

**_Chapter 27_**

"**A**re we there yet?" Leopold asked, his feet dragging lifelessly across the ground.

"We are now," she said, moving some vines away with sweep of her hand and a gust of wind, revealing a stone door. "Welcome to my Home-Away-From-Home, secluded, magical, thinking spot. Please whipe your feet before entering."


End file.
